Spawn points
Category:Characters In this chapter we’ll go over how to create spawn points. What is a spawn point? It is a point in the game where a given character is spawned. The conditions under which a character will be spawned depend on the settings selected in the NPC or/and commoner spawning systems. We need six spawn points for our adventure. First let’s open the module in which the adventure will be created. Select Open Module from Module menu: This opens the standard Windows window used for loading files. Look for the module with containing our adventure (documents are saved in the Document and Settings\username\My documents\The Witcher folder). Highlight it and click Open. After opening the module, a Module Explorer window will appear on the left side of the screen: More information about the D’jinni’s interface is available in another chapter of this manual. To add a spawn point, we have to edit the game area. Open the tree containing the area by clicking on the small ‘+’ sign located next to its name: After expanding the Areas tree, double-click on the Edit Area option: The Area loading mode window will appear on the screen. Click on Entire geometry: After a while the area window will be loaded to the editor: If the area is too dark when it loads, you can brighten it up. In order to do so, choose Ambient -> Medium Ambient from the Render menu: This immediately makes the area brighter: First we will create a spawn point for our NPC, let’s call him Siegfried. To set a new spawn point, click on the seventh icon from the left. This icon is located on the toolbar above the edited area: It is possible to create a spawn point using a template, so select one from the list. Click on the downward arrow located next to the spawn point icon: The Select window will open: Open the Spawnpoints tree by clicking on the small ‘+’ sign and select the required template from the list by double-clicking on its name. An object representing the spawn point will “stick” to the cursor. Now left-click the spot where you want to place the spawn point. The spawn point will be added to the area: Now we have to set the attributes for this spawn point. To do this, double-click on the new spawn point. The Spawnpoint window will appear on the right side of the D’jinni Editor: The attributes of the new spawn point are in the left column. They are divided into sections (General, Spawning parameters and Position). To make navigation easier, you can collapse the sections by clicking on the small ‘-‘ sign next to each section name: To expand a previously collapsed section, click on the small ‘+’ sign next to the section name: The values of particular attributes are in the right-hand column. These attributes are described below: General Section: * Name. Contains the name of the spawn point. This is usually the same name, i.e. Spawnpoint, for all spawn points in the area. * Tag. Contains the spawn point’s identification tag. This is usually the same for all spawn points in the area. Tags are mainly used with scripts. * Comment. A space in which to write a comment. This is not used by the game, it’s just an information field. You can write whatever you want here. Click the right-hand column next to the Comment attribute. This time let’s write “Siegfried’s spawn point”: :Then hit ENTER. * Creature Uses Orientation. Determines whether the spawned creature will face the direction indicated by the spawn point icon. Note that the spawn point object has an arrow. Setting this attribute on True will spawn the creature at the specified spawn point facing in the direction of the arrow. We can set this attribute to True for Siegfried. If you want to change the setting, click the right-hand column opposite the Creature Uses Orientation attribute: :The values you can assign to this attribute are: ::- False – the character will face in a randomly chosen direction after it has been spawned, ::- True – the character will face in the direction of the spawn point arrow. Spawning parameters Section: * Appear placeable template. Responsible for how the spawn point looks in the game. A spawn point usually has its own object which is invisible during the game, however a tree, for example, could also serve as a spawn point. To change the object of a spawn point, click on the small yellow icon located in the right-hand column opposite the Appear placeable template attribute: :This opens the standard Windows window used for loading files. Choose the object you want to load (files in the .utp format) and click on OPEN. The standard spawn point object will automatically change into the new object. * Spawn Categories. One of the most important spawn point attributes. This is where we assign a tag that tells the NPC it must spawn in the specified spawn point. To assign a tag to a spawn point, click on the small blue icon located in the right-hand column opposite the Spawn Categories attribute: :The String list window will open: :Remember the column called Spawn Categories in the NPC / commoner spawn system? We added spawn categories to this column. If we want a character to spawn in a specified spawn point the tags for both the spawn category and spawn point should be the same. We assigned the tag spawn_siegfried for Siegfried the NPC. Now assign the same tag to the spawn point. Click on the upper field of the String list window: :Write spawn_siegfried and click Add / Modify: :This text will appear in the lower field: :Click OK at the bottom of the String list window. If you want to modify an existing tag, click on the small blue icon located in the right-hand column opposite the Spawn Categories attribute. When the String List window opens, click on the tag you want to change: :The tag will then appear on the upper field of the String list window: :Now you can modify the tag and then click on Add / Modify. If you want to remove the tag altogether, highlight it on the String list and click Remove: :In our case, however, we don’t want to delete the tag. We want Siegfried to be spawned in the spawn point. Remember that a spawn point can have several tags, allowing several characters to spawn at one spawn point. * Options. Determines whether a creature at a given spawn point can appear or disappear. The default options are enough for our Siegfried. If you want to change the settings, however, click the right-hand column opposite the Options attribute. The following list will appear: :Change the settings by clicking on the small boxes next to the options: :Clicking an unmarked option will mark it. If you want to change all options at once, click on a small box next to the asterisk: :The values you can assign to this option are: ::- Can appear here – a character can appear at this spawn point, ::- Can disappear here – a character can disappear at this spawn point. * TemplateResRef. Contains the spawn point template file. Spawn points have templates too. The standard template for a spawn point is a sp_spawnpoint.utx file. If you want to change to a different spawn point template, click on the small yellow icon located in the right-hand column opposite the TemplateResRef attribute: :This opens the standard Windows window used for loading files. Select the template you want and click on Open. Position Section: * XPosition. Contains the position of the spawn point on the X axis. This attribute is automatically updated whenever you move the object. You can leave the default settings here. * YPosition. Contains the position of the spawn point on the Y axis. This attribute is automatically updated whenever you move the object. You can leave the default settings here * ZPosition. Contains the position of the spawn point on the Z axis. This attribute is automatically updated whenever you move the object. You can leave the default settings here We’ve added a spawn point for Siegfried. Now we need to add five more, one for each of the remaining characters in our adventure. Add the next spawn point not far from Siegfried. This will be the spawn point for Jethro. Give it the following attributes: :- Creature Uses Orientation – True, :- Spawn Categories – spawn_Jethro. Add the next spawn point somewhere far off. This will be the spawn point for the Professor. Give it the following attributes: :- Creature Uses Orientation – True, :- Spawn Categories – spawn_professor. Close to the Professor’s spawn point, place the next two. Give the first spawn point the following attributes: :- Creature Uses Orientation – True, :- Spawn Categories – spawn_bandit1. For the second one: :- Creature Uses Orientation – True, :- Spawn Categories – spawn_bandit2. There is one more spawn point, for the wolves. Add the last spawn point somewhere further away. Give it the following attributes: :- Creature Uses Orientation – False, :- Spawn Categories – spawn_wolf. That’s it when it comes to creating spawn points. Our area now has places for our characters to appear. It is time for the next stage of our adventure.